It’s called ‘vomit fraud’ and it can make your Uber experience an expensive nightmare. It has been around for a few years, surfacing in different parts of the USA (including New York, California, and Florida). Basically, some drivers with the rideshare are cashing in by using fake photos of their trashed seats to charge unwitting customers “cleaning fees.” According to Uber, these extra fees compensate the drivers for the time and money they spend cleaning their vehicles. But this case is a little different. The customer claims the ride didn’t even happen.
“I never saw the $157 charge because it was placed immediately before a legitimate Uber ride I took,” Mike Platt from Greater Detroit wrote. “Must be their tactic. I was only alerted when I saw that my credit card bill was suspiciously high about 30 days later.”
“I was only alerted when I saw that my credit card bill was suspiciously high about 30 days later.”
After contacting the company’s customer support, a long back-and-forth began. Mike thought the whole ordeal was so absurd, he shared everything online. “I’ve been using Uber since mid-2014,” Platt told Bored Panda. “Never experienced anything like this.”
“I’ve always liked Uber, never had a problem until this one. I was even going to give them the benefit of the doubt that this was a rare hiccup / driver-related fraud attempt until I had the awful experience with their customer service.” It was so ridiculous, Mike even wondered if anyone was reading the messages he sent or if he was talking to a bot.
“All would have been OK with me if they would have simply said ‘OK, sorry this happened, we will refund your money,'” Platt added. He also thinks that the company could easily minimize situations like this. “It would be nice if Uber had a help phone line to call ( I think they used to, must have gotten rid of it). I can see how chat-only systems may be cheaper / easier for them, but I would think they could afford it. I wonder how they can afford NOT to have it with things like this happening. Only thing I would add about my experience is that it was more confounding than frustrating for me.”
“Participating in fraudulent activity of any kind is a clear violation of our Community Guidelines,” Uber told Bored Panda. “We are constantly evaluating our processes and technology related to these claims and will take appropriate action whenever fraud may be detected.” The company also stated that they have specific criteria and a review process in place and in instances where they find a confirmed case of fraud, they take appropriate action, including removing the driver from the app.
Scroll down to check out the unbelievable exchange!
“Uber scammed me out of $157”
“I never saw the $157 charge because it was placed immediately before a legitimate Uber ride I took (must be their tactic). I was only alerted when I saw that my credit card bill was suspiciously high about 30 days later”
Thanks to people’s advice, the guy was able to get his money back after contacting his credit card company. Turns out, other people had similar experiences
The constant repetition of the same load of rubbish to this poor person is infuriating. Why won't they read the information properly? Uber - you really aren't doing yourselves any favours here! So glad he got all the money back in the end.
Laugh Fan, the repetitious nature should be a giveaway of the nature of the conversation. The support line is 'staffed' by an A.I. system. All it can do is respond in a pre-programmed way to certain keywords and phrases. No human ever reviewed the above statements.
Load More Replies...
I think every person that has a problem with Uber on this should contact their credit card company. If enough complaints are accumulated, the Credit Card companies will refuse to do business with Uber making their bottom line drop. They will have to be a cash only business. Let's see if Uber can get their fees from the "honest" drivers after that..... Other solutions include linking your account with a prepaid visa or mastercard that has a limit of funds. They can't charge a fee if there are no funds available.
The idiotic phrases being repeated over and over again are more infuriating than anything else.
no wonder why I don't use Uber, midnight driver called from Costa Rica as he was waiting from me for a ride and I was sleeping here India, that was still okay but next day morning, I was about to get a heart attack as I was charged 2200 USD, it took me a day to get my money back. And I banned them forever.
Uber is being absurd. So as a consumer, this now means I have to PHOTOGRAPH the passenger area both in and out ? And how do I prove that I DIDN'T take the Uber car like the man said ? What are we all going to have to do eventually, wear BODY CAMS ???
Uber doesn't care, so long as they get their pound of flesh, the mark can go F themselves.
Load More Replies...
reason I hate Uber...the hidden b******t attached to service and drivers...
A typical credit card fraud. You could argue that Uber is reponsible for criminal behaivour (and intent) here, since they did not come up with any real arguments.
So glad Uber isn't in my backward little town. If they're not overcharging customers for no reason, the drivers are using other methods to act inappropriately towards them.
i have to ask... which town is that? sounds like heaven. Uber drivers are menace to society.
Load More Replies...
Über has TERRIBLE customer service. Someone stole my card number (in Illinois), using it for Über rides (in California). I do not have an Über account. The total was over $300. Back and forth emails, claiming they "didn't know" who fraudulently used my card. I contacted the police (where the rides happened), they contacted Über, who contacted me. Über refunded all of my money, and provided details of the guilty parties who used my card. I suggested in future: if a credit card is NOT tied to an Über account, it would decrease fraud significantly. They have yet to do so.
I will never use an Uber ,this company is obviously losing customer's trust and are lining their pockets with ill gotten gains to make up for loss... shameful.
I could write pages and pages of horrific experiences with Uber. My work requires considerable travel and I have used Uber in many different parts of the country. I've been sexually harassed several times and even had one driver threaten me when I told him off for making sexually suggestive remarks. I've been double-charged and charged for rides not taken. Dealing with Uber corporate is a nightmare. Just getting a rational response is nearly impossible and they are almost always rude. They are one of the most customer unfriendly companies ever.
Uber is run by sexist man pigs & has a hostile work environment for both sexes. It should've gone bankrupt years ago.
Apparently, it's a new trend: http://www.cracked.com/article_25782_beware-theres-disgusting-hilarious-uber-scam-out-there.html
A perfect example of why we need consumer protection laws and regulation and why "tech" companies like Uber are terrible. Uber evades all the cab regulation and treats customers like Google treats its cattle (users/product). If a company has no way to talk to a human being in person or via phone, do not use their services! Also, call the police in cases of fraud!
A drive from Romulus to Royal Oak takes 9 hours. This Uber driver must have been flying a rocket.
I wonder if Lyft has the same problem. All the more reason to go back to cabs - or use public transit if you can. Or schmooze a friend who has a car.
This is why I refuse to use such a system. Ride sharing to me is the same as hitchhiking, in a more modernized form. You pay for a ride an can get robbed all one, without physical harm. Crime 3.0 I guess.
Id never use an Uber, you never know who you’re getting into a car with. At.eat a reputable taxi company vet their drivers unlike Uber. How many rapes have been to court in the last year in the uk . What about the murders too. It needs policing g or closing full stop
Just one more reason not to use Uber or any other car riding service. I will stick with Taxis as long as they are still running. I never had a problem like this with a taxi service!
They probably spent tons of money on those TV ads saying that they got a new CEO and they've improved. Yea right.
sorry: having a real person that answers the phone would cost money, the wage. This is my guess why they no longer have a phone contact.
Load More Replies...
Clearly messaging with a robot that can only give the one reply over and over.
He was talking to SanjayV. Meaning a guy in India working for a company that outsourced Uber support. And SanjayV has no power to do anything. SanjayV is forced by rules to only give standard s**t answers and take no actual action to address the matter. He has no actual decisional power and from my experience has little understanding for the job he does and usually does not understand the problem the customer has. And even if he does, he will not escalate it to someone with more power, because of r******d internal policies which basically makes him a robot. In short, this is the sort of s**t you can expect when your support "specialist" is just some guy in a 3rd world country.
I used to be an Uber driver. This is awful. One of the reasons I left was because trying to get in touch with Uber became more difficult. I would start snapping a picture of the Uber car seat after each ride. How sad that one would have to do that...
How to destroy a business model......................bad customer service
You are all to blame. UBER is a corrupt and fraudulent company. Their founder was even ousted. Why do you continue to use their service. Use Lyft instead. Even if Lyft sucks, give them the business first and stop using Uber.
This is why I don't use Uber. I use Lyft. I'm sure they do their one deal but I haven't had any issues or heard any issues like this .
My car was totaled and my sister keeps telling me I should just take Uber instead of getting one to replace it. Stories like this are what stop me from taking Uber. That, and trying to take Uber home from the ER after the accident. We had a text that the driver was minutes away, but couldn't find us. Turns out he was in another state hundreds and hundreds of miles away. We gave up and called a cab. And this wasn't that long ago.
This is why we can't have nice things. Stupid POS's always have to defraud or scam someone and ruin it for everyone else. I hate people
Comment on a con with another con how original.
Load More Replies... The constant repetition of the same load of rubbish to this poor person is infuriating. Why won't they read the information properly? Uber - you really aren't doing yourselves any favours here! So glad he got all the money back in the end.
Laugh Fan, the repetitious nature should be a giveaway of the nature of the conversation. The support line is 'staffed' by an A.I. system. All it can do is respond in a pre-programmed way to certain keywords and phrases. No human ever reviewed the above statements.
Load More Replies... I think every person that has a problem with Uber on this should contact their credit card company. If enough complaints are accumulated, the Credit Card companies will refuse to do business with Uber making their bottom line drop. They will have to be a cash only business. Let's see if Uber can get their fees from the "honest" drivers after that..... Other solutions include linking your account with a prepaid visa or mastercard that has a limit of funds. They can't charge a fee if there are no funds available.
The idiotic phrases being repeated over and over again are more infuriating than anything else.
no wonder why I don't use Uber, midnight driver called from Costa Rica as he was waiting from me for a ride and I was sleeping here India, that was still okay but next day morning, I was about to get a heart attack as I was charged 2200 USD, it took me a day to get my money back. And I banned them forever.
Uber is being absurd. So as a consumer, this now means I have to PHOTOGRAPH the passenger area both in and out ? And how do I prove that I DIDN'T take the Uber car like the man said ? What are we all going to have to do eventually, wear BODY CAMS ???
Uber doesn't care, so long as they get their pound of flesh, the mark can go F themselves.
Load More Replies... reason I hate Uber...the hidden b******t attached to service and drivers...
A typical credit card fraud. You could argue that Uber is reponsible for criminal behaivour (and intent) here, since they did not come up with any real arguments.
So glad Uber isn't in my backward little town. If they're not overcharging customers for no reason, the drivers are using other methods to act inappropriately towards them.
i have to ask... which town is that? sounds like heaven. Uber drivers are menace to society.
Load More Replies... Über has TERRIBLE customer service. Someone stole my card number (in Illinois), using it for Über rides (in California). I do not have an Über account. The total was over $300. Back and forth emails, claiming they "didn't know" who fraudulently used my card. I contacted the police (where the rides happened), they contacted Über, who contacted me. Über refunded all of my money, and provided details of the guilty parties who used my card. I suggested in future: if a credit card is NOT tied to an Über account, it would decrease fraud significantly. They have yet to do so.
I will never use an Uber ,this company is obviously losing customer's trust and are lining their pockets with ill gotten gains to make up for loss... shameful.
I could write pages and pages of horrific experiences with Uber. My work requires considerable travel and I have used Uber in many different parts of the country. I've been sexually harassed several times and even had one driver threaten me when I told him off for making sexually suggestive remarks. I've been double-charged and charged for rides not taken. Dealing with Uber corporate is a nightmare. Just getting a rational response is nearly impossible and they are almost always rude. They are one of the most customer unfriendly companies ever.
Uber is run by sexist man pigs & has a hostile work environment for both sexes. It should've gone bankrupt years ago.
Apparently, it's a new trend: http://www.cracked.com/article_25782_beware-theres-disgusting-hilarious-uber-scam-out-there.html
A perfect example of why we need consumer protection laws and regulation and why "tech" companies like Uber are terrible. Uber evades all the cab regulation and treats customers like Google treats its cattle (users/product). If a company has no way to talk to a human being in person or via phone, do not use their services! Also, call the police in cases of fraud!
A drive from Romulus to Royal Oak takes 9 hours. This Uber driver must have been flying a rocket.
I wonder if Lyft has the same problem. All the more reason to go back to cabs - or use public transit if you can. Or schmooze a friend who has a car.
This is why I refuse to use such a system. Ride sharing to me is the same as hitchhiking, in a more modernized form. You pay for a ride an can get robbed all one, without physical harm. Crime 3.0 I guess.
Id never use an Uber, you never know who you’re getting into a car with. At.eat a reputable taxi company vet their drivers unlike Uber. How many rapes have been to court in the last year in the uk . What about the murders too. It needs policing g or closing full stop
Just one more reason not to use Uber or any other car riding service. I will stick with Taxis as long as they are still running. I never had a problem like this with a taxi service!
They probably spent tons of money on those TV ads saying that they got a new CEO and they've improved. Yea right.
sorry: having a real person that answers the phone would cost money, the wage. This is my guess why they no longer have a phone contact.
Load More Replies... Clearly messaging with a robot that can only give the one reply over and over.
He was talking to SanjayV. Meaning a guy in India working for a company that outsourced Uber support. And SanjayV has no power to do anything. SanjayV is forced by rules to only give standard s**t answers and take no actual action to address the matter. He has no actual decisional power and from my experience has little understanding for the job he does and usually does not understand the problem the customer has. And even if he does, he will not escalate it to someone with more power, because of r******d internal policies which basically makes him a robot. In short, this is the sort of s**t you can expect when your support "specialist" is just some guy in a 3rd world country.
I used to be an Uber driver. This is awful. One of the reasons I left was because trying to get in touch with Uber became more difficult. I would start snapping a picture of the Uber car seat after each ride. How sad that one would have to do that...
How to destroy a business model......................bad customer service
You are all to blame. UBER is a corrupt and fraudulent company. Their founder was even ousted. Why do you continue to use their service. Use Lyft instead. Even if Lyft sucks, give them the business first and stop using Uber.
This is why I don't use Uber. I use Lyft. I'm sure they do their one deal but I haven't had any issues or heard any issues like this .
My car was totaled and my sister keeps telling me I should just take Uber instead of getting one to replace it. Stories like this are what stop me from taking Uber. That, and trying to take Uber home from the ER after the accident. We had a text that the driver was minutes away, but couldn't find us. Turns out he was in another state hundreds and hundreds of miles away. We gave up and called a cab. And this wasn't that long ago.
This is why we can't have nice things. Stupid POS's always have to defraud or scam someone and ruin it for everyone else. I hate people
Comment on a con with another con how original.
Load More Replies...
218
89